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Baltimore officer acquitted of all charges in Freddie Gray case

By Derek Hawkins and Lynh Bui, washingtonpost.com

A judge on Monday found the highest-ranking officer charged in Freddie Gray’s death not guilty on all counts, dealing a devastating blow to prosecutors, who have now tried four officers without a conviction, and stoking doubts about whether the state can win a guilty verdict against the remaining defendants.

Judge Barry G. Williams acquitted Lt. Brian Rice, 42, of manslaughter, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office after a week-long bench trial, finding that Rice did not commit a crime when he loaded Gray, 25, into a police transport van without seat-belting him. Gray suffered a severe neck injury as he was being taken to a police station and died a week later.

The verdict renews questions about whether prosecutors will go forward or drop charges against the three officers awaiting trial. The judge recently acquitted Officer Caesar Goodson Jr., who drove the transport van, as well as Officer Edward M. Nero, who helped arrest Gray, both after bench trials. Officer William Porter is scheduled to be retried in the fall on manslaughter and other counts after a jury deadlocked in December.

Officer Garrett Miller is facing trial on assault and misconduct charges in late July, and Sgt. Alicia White — who is charged with manslaughter, assault and misconduct — is set to be tried in October.

It is unclear what new evidence or witnesses the state can present to bolster its arguments in the remaining cases. With each passing trial, prosecutors have offered theories about each officer’s culpability in Gray’s death, injury or alleged wrongful arrest, but Williams has been incredulous at each turn.

Police arrested Gray in West Baltimore the morning of April 12, 2015, after he ran from officers. Rice and other officers shackled his wrists and legs and put him in the prisoner compartment of a police van without restraining him. Prosecutors say Gray fell and struck his head.

At Porter’s trial, prosecutors said Gray died because the officer callously ignored Gray’s cries for help. At Nero’s trial, the state argued that the officer lacked probable cause to make the arrest and urged the judge to convict him of assault.

Read more at https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/judge-set-to-deliver-verdict-against-highest-ranking-officer-charged-in-freddie-gray-case/2016/07/16/d3a10e09-1e01-42f0-a1a8-3a95f2c2449b_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_no-name%3Ahomepage%2Fstory

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